Review: GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper

GSI Pinnacle Camper: Everything but the kitchen sink

Although the GSI Pinnacle Camper cook system isn't the lightest or smallest system on the market, is the ultimate car camping cook system.

4.0

FunctionalityWhen it comes to the functionality of a cook system, there are many different things that you have to look for but ultimately, what it all boils down to (pun intended) is does it cook your food in a safe and convenient way. If it starts to break down after just a few uses, you know you need a different system. Luckily, I didn’t experience any of this with the Pinnacle Camper from GSI Outdoors. I was very impressed by the multitude of features and uses.

One of my favorite features of the Pinnacle Camper is its removable handle. While I was testing, my friend accidentally left the handle on the frying pan while it was on an open fire. I was happily surprised by what I found. There was absolutely no damage to the handle, it’s a bit discolored but the plastic controls are perfectly fine. In my opinion, the slight fire kissed look gives it character.

A unique attribute of the Pinnacle Camper cook system is that it literally comes with a kitchen sink. Now, when you finish cooking you meal, you just toss all of the dishes and pots into the sink and give them a wash so you don’t have to haul around gross dirty dishes.

Design and AestheticsGSI Outdoors used a nesting system to help cram as much as they possibly could into the largest pot in the cook system and it works beautifully. All of the components nest neatly inside of each other and they’re all wrapped in the sink which not only holds everything together, it also protects them from damage.

Dupont has developed a new kind of teflon coating that GSI Outdoors took full advantage of when construction the Pinnacle Camper. Each of the pots and pans are coated in this new formula of teflon that not only makes food even less likely to stick them, but also helps them to heat more evenly throughout the whole piece. Which means you get a more consistent pan with less hot spots.

The lids of this cook system are quite unique. They claim to be “crushproof” which I had to test for myself. To do this, I just put it on the ground and sat on it. No deformation was seen. I was really impressed because the material is very light and doesn’t radiate heat like metal would.

DurabilityUnder the “crushproof” lid, there are a plethora of anodized aluminum pots and pans for you to choose from. You would think that this anodized aluminum would be able to stand the heat, but I experienced some pretty major warping with the frying pan. The whole bottom of the pan is bulging out and I’m not really sure how it happened. This is definitely an issue that I’m sure GSI Outdoors will address in future iterations of this product, in fact, it may already be resolved.

Apart from the pan warping, I have been very impressed with the durability of this cook system. The coating seems to be not only non-stick but also scratch resistant, which is a major plus for a non-stick coating. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would always tell us to not use metal utensils on a non-stick pan. Those days are behind us. You can use whatever you damn well please on this pan and it will just throw it back at you.

ValueAt first, 140 bucks seems like a lot to spend for a cook system, especially since its nesting design makes it look like an over priced, heavy pot.Once you get it home and crack it open, you realize how complex it really is. $140 goes a long ways with this cook system because of the shear amount of products you receive. I haven’t been able to find a system that can pack so much into such a small container and still have everything I could ever need while cooking on the trail.

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